MERSEYSIDE parents were caught making bogus claims in a bid to secure their child the school of their choice.

Today an ECHO investigation can reveal that some of the culprits were pulled up for supplying false addresses and failing to prove their child had been baptised into the religion of the school of choice.

Education chiefs pledged to weed out would-be cheats and stressed they thoroughly scrutinised forms and made further checks to ensure applications were legitimate.

But a leading parents group said the evidence was proof of “the pressure” and lengths parents were prepared to go to find their children the best possible school.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal four parents were caught supplying false details on admission forms for the start of the 2009 academic year in September.

On two of the forms they made claims about baptism that could not be backed up. Two others were found to have put down incorrect addresses on the official forms.

Church schools when oversubscribed may give preference to children baptised into their faith while others will give priority to pupils based on their closeness to the school.

Today a Knowsley council spokesman stressed the places were withdrawn and these parents represented less than 1% of applicants. He added: “It is not always possible to distinguish between an oversight and deliberate falsification. The important point is that if the information provided is incorrect, for whatever reason, the place may well be withdrawn.”

On the receipt of applications the authority makes initial checks and can lead to parents being asked to provide proof of details submitted.

Once places have been allocated and where a school is oversubscribed further checks are made by the school which could include asking to see a birth certificate and confirmation of baptism.

Wirral and Liverpool council said they had no incidents of falsified forms this year, but confirmed they too made checks to ensure information provided was correct. Sefton council said it did not hold records but in a statement stressed: “In Sefton, where there are more applications for a school than there are places available, we scrutinise home addresses during the application process in any given year”.

Nick Seaton, chairman of parents group, The Campaign For Real Education which pushes for better standards in schools, said: “Obviously it is wrong for parents to give false information on application forms but you cannot underestimate the pressure. The main concern for a parent is to see a child gets good education and school.”

Our investigation comes months after we revealed how a record number of Liverpool, Knowsley and Halton parents are successfully fighting to get their children into primary school.